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Dr. Stephen Kercher

Dr. Stephen Kercher is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Dr. Kercher, who earned his Ph.D. in history and American studies at Indiana University at Bloomington, specializes in post-WWII American history. He has received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2008 and has directed history projects such as “Black Thursday,” “The Algoma Riots” and “Earth Day.” He co-founded and formerly directed the Northeast Wisconsin Teachers Academy for the Study of American History, a project funded by more than $1.7 million from the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Kercher has been teaching at UW Oshkosh since 2000.

Photo: Shawn McAfee/UW Oshkosh Learning Technologies

By Tom HanawayMultimedia News Intern

History Buff

Dr. Stephen Kercher is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Dr. Kercher, who earned his Ph.D. in history and American studies at Indiana University at Bloomington, specializes in post-WWII American history. He has received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2008 and has directed history projects such as “Black Thursday,” “The Algoma Riots” and “Earth Day.” He co-founded and formerly directed the Northeast Wisconsin Teachers Academy for the Study of American History, a project funded by more than $1.7 million from the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Kercher has been teaching at UW Oshkosh since 2000.

For this Setting the Course story, we asked Dr. Kercher a few questions about his passion of history, projects he has been a part of and his love for teaching.

Setting the Course Podcast

In the following audio-only podcast, Dr. Kercher discusses his course, America in
the 1960s, which follows the counterculture movement, the Vietnam War
and the sexual revolution. The class will be offered in Spring 2012. This podcast was conducted and produced by multimedia news intern Tom Hanaway.

I came to an appreciation of history rather late. History as it was conveyed to me in middle andhigh school—with its specific attention to the rote memorization of names and dates—bored me to tears. As my intellectual curiosity grew in college I gave history another chance. In collegehistory classes, as I began to study how popular attitudes, political ideologies and socialmovements evolved over time, the world around me became more relatable. Historical insightswere suddenly revelatory, and I was hooked for life.

2. What area of history do you enjoy the most?

I am interested in many facets of twentieth-century United States history, but I am most drawn tocultural and intellectual history, the study of how ideas, cultural institutions and the popular artshave reflected and influenced American life.

Kercher discussees Joseph Pulitzer's role in the Spanish-American War during a History 202 lecture on February 22, 2001. Photo taken by Shawn McAfee of UW Oshkosh Learning Technologies.

3. Why did you want to become a professor?

I imagined that devoting myself to researching and teaching history would continually engageme in the world of ideas and allow me to help others understand the importance of our past.

4. You are originally from Illinois, so why did you decide to teach in Wisconsin? What drew you to Oshkosh?

I grew up in northern Illinois, with the Badger State practically in my backyard. I partook ofWisconsin’s natural wonders often, traveling throughout the state to fish, ski, boat and play. Iwas enrolled at both UW Madison and the University of Illinois but at the last minute chose thelatter because its in-state tuition was much less expensive.

The appeal of teaching in a beautiful state, particularly one with a state university system that has enjoyed such a great reputation, was immediate. My great colleagues in the History Department were another draw.

5. You have done several projects based on the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s history, like "Black Thursday" and the "Algoma Riots." Why do you feel it is important to archive UWO’s history?

I strongly believe that we can all acquire a new, more nuanced understanding of our past whenwe see how historical events played out in our backyard. For students, certainly, local historyoften seems less distant and more immediate. “Black Thursday” and the “Algoma Riots”demonstrate that the American crisis of race and the campus turmoil of the 1960s were notconfined to the South or campuses such as UC Berkeley. Their stories are important andinteresting in their own right, but each relate to other, wider historical moments that interest megreatly. And both of them were also very well documented, so I - and the students who haveworked with me - have been able to piece together their stories with a surfeit of historicalmaterial.